Vehicle-based telematics units connect to a telematics server via a wireless connection in order to receive information with which to interact with the vehicle operator. Presently, when a telematics unit is activated it places a call to a cellular phone number in a cellular network that then makes a connection between the telematics unit and the telematics server. When the vehicle of the telematics unit is not in its local calling area, roaming or long distance fees are incurred for a unit/server session. The telematics unit requires a phone number that is local relative to the present location of the telematics unit in order to access the telematics server without incurring increased communication fees. In order for the telematics unit to call a phone number that is different than its base or default phone number, the user must take the time to figure out what phone number is a proper phone number given the present vehicle location, and must enter that number while operating the vehicle. This imposes a number of problems, one of which is safety. The whole point of the telematics unit is to provide hands-free operation and interaction with the telematics server. Safety is compromised when the user must manually enter a phone number. Also, the user would have to find the proper phone number, which may be hard to locate under the circumstances or be unavailable to the user.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide easier and more cost effective access to a telematics server.